Chapter 359: Who Did She See?

Ji Zhao sneered and approached her without hesitation. She raised her hand and gave her a loud slap!

“Who gave you the guts to hide my husband?”

“Sister Ah Tao? What are you talking about?” Panic flashed across Fan Xuancao’s eyes. She covered her face and asked with tears in her eyes, “I know you look down on me, but no matter what, how could you… how could you hit me casually?”

“Hitting you will dirty my hands!”

Ji Zhao narrowed her eyes and sneered. Then, she attacked her face from both sides!

“Initially, on account of our past relationship, I sympathized with your plight. But now that I think about it, I feel that a person like you who degrades yourself is not worth mentioning!”

“I…” Fan Xuancao, whose face was covered in tears, looked at her in fear and unease. Her entire body was curled up into a ball because of fear. In the end, she actually fainted!

Soon, someone tied Fan Xuancao up!

Following the traces in her dream, Ji Zhao finally found Shen Yao.

“Zhaozhao?” The moment Shen Yao saw who it was, he thought he was dreaming.

“Shen Yao, I’m here.” Ji Zhao smiled brightly at him.

“Fan Xuancao works for the Jiangnan salt trader, Lin Zhixuan. We can’t stay here for long,” Shen Yao said hurriedly. “Zhaozhao, leave quickly!”

“If you want to leave, let’s leave together!” Ji Zhao carried him on her back and panted heavily. “Shen Yao, I know that doing this will definitely damage the wounds on your body, but we have no other way out now, so bear with it!”

Fortunately, Ji Zhao had brought a group of elite imperial guards with her this time.

With their help, Ji Zhao successfully took Shen Yao and Fan Xuancao away.

Considering Shen Yao’s injuries, Ji Zhao did not leave Jinling directly. Instead, she rented a pleasure boat near Qinhuai Tower.

She fed Fan Xuancao medicine that temporarily made her lose her voice, making her weak and powerless.

Then, she began to treat Shen Yao’s wounds wholeheartedly.

When she untied the blood-stained bandage around Shen Yao’s chest, Ji Zhao suddenly felt tears well up in her eyes.

Her almond-shaped eyes, which had always been beautiful, were covered in a layer of mist.

“Zhaozhao?” Seeing her like this, Shen Yao’s heart suddenly ached. “Don’t be sad. I’m fine.”

Ji Zhao pursed her lips and did not say anything. Instead, she picked up a sharp dagger soaked in alcohol and carefully cut open the layer of rotten flesh on his wound. Finally, she sprinkled special ointment on his wound and bandaged it again.

By the time he was done, a layer of sweat had already formed on Ji Zhao’s forehead.

Crystalline sweat dripped onto the back of Shen Yao’s hand, making his heart ache so much that he found it difficult to breathe.

“Zhaozhao, are you still angry?”

Ji Zhao took a deep breath, grabbed his arm, and bit him fiercely.

But when she saw the red bite mark on his arm, her heart ached even more.

“What exactly happened? How did you get injured? And Fan Xuancao, why did she secretly hide you?” Ji Zhao had too many questions in her heart.

“It’s a long story…” Shen Yao frowned slightly and slowly explained what had happened during this period of time.

Emperor Jingchen had the intention of eradicating the corruption in the Jiangnan area. He had always wanted to find a suitable opportunity to enter the Jiangnan area. Through investigating the salt tax case, he would tear open the dark clouds that enveloped the Jiangnan area.

Coincidentally, Qin Minghong had handed over a secret memo. Nine out of ten officials in Jiangnan were corrupt, it was just a matter of how much.

After Emperor Jingchen ascended the throne, he had already stripped away the power of the aristocratic families and established his prestige. However, how could the corruption in the Great Jing Dynasty be resolved in a day or two? Therefore, Emperor Jingchen set his sights on the fat Jiangnan.

Emperor Jingchen’s temperament was completely different from his brother, Emperor Jingyuan. Emperor Jingyuan was addicted to indulgence and pleasure. In the imperial court, he was even more cronyistic and close to the bad people while estranging the good ministers. As for the corruption and devastation hidden in the Great Jing Dynasty, he chose to believe that what he didn’t see couldn’t hurt him. However, Emperor Jingchen was determined to revitalize Anbang. The emperor’s original intention was different, so his style of doing things was naturally different.

“Qin Minghong reported in a secret memorial that the people selling illicit salt in Jiangnan are colluding with officials. As for those people from the Cao Gang, although they help to maintain order on the canal, they can actually earn very little money. Moreover, they earn some hard labor money. Originally, the Cao Gang, the Yan family who sells illicit salt, and the officials from Jiangnan formed an extremely tacit situation and lived in harmony for many years. However, the taxes that Jiangnan pays to the imperial court every year are just a small amount that leaks out from between their fingers.”

“It was only three months ago when a case appeared in Qinhuai Tower that the tacit understanding between the three was broken.” Shen Yao sighed softly. “Cao Xinyue, the adopted daughter of the Cao Gang’s head, died in Qinhuai Tower. Moreover, her corpse was naked and covered in whip marks. The coroner found that Cao Xinyue had been abused by many people before she died.”

“As for Cao Xinyue, she was engaged to Lin Youyang, the son of Lin Zhixuan, the salt transporter from Jiangnan… Cao Xinyue died too tragically. Cao Meng, the head of the Cao Gang and Cao Xinyue’s foster father, rushed into the Lin residence and broke Lin Youyang’s leg. From then on, the situation in Jinling changed.”

“Then, has the cause of Cao Xinyue’s death been investigated? Why did she die in Qinhuai Tower?” Ji Zhao became more and more puzzled. “Why do I feel that this case is filled with suspicious points?”

“That’s right.” Shen Yao silently held her hand and sighed softly. “When I rushed to Jinling and heard about this case, I also felt that there were many doubts, so I thought of a way to pull out the case file of this case and found some clues.”

“About four months ago, a batch of goods that the Cao Gang was in charge of transporting had some problems. Gang Leader Cao Meng and Qin Minghong’s uncle, Cao Xing, were implicated. Immediately after, the officials took the two of them away. However, on the 15th day of the second month, Cao Xinyue, who usually did not leave her house, hurriedly rushed to Qinhuai Tower after receiving a letter from a little beggar. On the next day, something happened.

However, less than half a day after Cao Xinyue’s death, Cao Meng and Cao Xing were released.”

“In other words, Cao Xinyue met with an accident to save her foster father and uncle?” After listening to the entire case, Ji Zhao became even calmer. “There can’t be so many coincidences in the world. Cao Xinyue had just met with an accident when Cao Meng and Cao Xing were released? Or should we assume that all of this was deliberately set up by someone? A trap against the Cao Gang?”

“Zhaozhao is indeed a smart person.” Shen Yao smiled and gave his wife a thumbs up. “After that, I hid my identity and went to Qinhuai Tower. I accidentally saw Fan Xuancao and found some clues.”

“That day, Cao Xinyue was at Qinhuai Tower. She only saw two people.”

“Who did she meet?” Ji Zhao asked curiously..